Warp-let-off for looms.



P. T. WITHEB & R. WHITE.

WARP LET-OIT FOR LOOMS. v

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 7, 1907.

903 ,145. Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

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P. T. WITHEE & R. WHIT. .WARP LET-OFF FOR IOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. '1, 1907.

903,145, Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

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% WMM f @www l l A TTOHNEYS UNITED STATES FATENT OFFTQE.

FRED T. WITHEE, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, AND ROBERT WHITE, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

WARP-LET-OFF FOR LOOMS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

Original application led September 28, 1906, Serial No. 336,547.- Dvided and this application filed August 7,1907. Serial No. 387,511.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRED T. WrrHnn, a resident of Springeld, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, and ROBERT WHITE, a resident of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, both citizens of the United States of America, have invented new and useful Improvements in Iarp-Let-Offs for Looms, of which the following is a specification, the same being a divisional part of our application for United States Letters Patent led September 28, 1906, and serially numbered 336,547.

Our invention relates to improvements in power looms designed especially for weaving wire-cloth, and more particularly to the warp letoifs of such looms, and consists essentially of certain peculiar escapement mechanism which is adapted to permit the warp to be drawn off of the beam as it is needed during the weaving process, such mechanism being subject to the control of the slay of the loom under certain conditions, all as hereinafter set forth.

The objects of our invention are, first, to afford means for letting off the required amount of warp after each operation of the shuttle, and for keeping` back the warp when the beating-up line of the cloth recedes too far from the normal beating-up point, whereby the work is kept at a given height in the reed and its smoothness insured, a very flexible cloth of even mesh resulting, and, second, to provide mechanism of this kind and for this purpose which is practicable, etlicient and comparatively simple in construction and operation. 7e attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a transverse section through a loom embodying our invention, certain parts of the loom which are not necessary to a full understanding of said invention being omitted, and, Fig. 2, a plan view of the let-off mechanism alone.

Similar figures refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

A suitable supported frame is represented at 5 for a warp-beam 6, a vertical shaft 7, a drive-shaft 8, a shaft 9 in front of said drive=shaft and driven from the latter through the medium of meshing gears indicated by broken lines at 10 and 11, a heddleoperating rock-shaft 12, a breast-roll 13, a cloth-roll 14, a batten 15, and the escapement mechanism hereinafter described. The warp-beam shaft 16 is j ournaled at each end in a bearing block 17 mounted in a bracket 18 at the corresponding end of the frame 5, bolts 19-19 being provided for the adjustment of said bearing-block. The warp-beam is provided with a worm-gear 2O which meshes with a worm 21 on the shaft 7. Below the worm' 21 is a peg-wheel 22 on the vertical shaft. The gear 10 is tight on the shaft 3 and the gear 11 tight on the shaft 9. The drive-shaft 8 is mounted in the lower part of the frame 5, in front of and parallel withV the warp-beam, and has power imparted thereto in any suitable manner and from any suitable source. The breast-roll 13 and the cloth-roll 14 respectively guide and receive the cloth as it is woven, and their shafts 23 and 24, respectively, together with the rock-shaft 12 are mounted in the frame.

The hatten 15 is mounted to swing .on the frame, a bolt 25 affording means for vertical adjustment, and a notched rest 26 and its supporting bolts 27 affording means for horizontal adjustment, these members being the same at both ends of the loom. The slay is represented at 28 and the reed at 29.

The slay 28 is actuated by a cam 30 on the drive-shaft 8 and a spring 31, through the medium of pivotally-connected arms 32 and 33 preferably arranged in pairs, the former being mounted on a rock-shaft 34 supported by a pair of base-blocks 35 and the latter being pivoted as at 36 to the slay. A roller 37 is carried between the arms 32 and bears upon the cam 30. The spring 31 is attached to one of the arms 32 and connected with a hook 33 in the ioor by means of rods 39 and 40 and a turn-buckle 41. Two springs 31 and connections may be employed if desired.

Inside of each end of the frame is a bearing-box 42, for a roll 43, supported from a cross-bar of said frame by a screw 44 and nuts 45. Two heddle-frames 46 provided with heddles 47 are retained in position one in front of the other and reciprocated in opposite directions by a strap 4S over each roll 43, one or more straps 49 fastened to the rock-shaft 12, and turn-buckle connections.

Although the parts thus far mentioned are generally old and well known, the association ofthe new let-off therewith is so intibar.

mate that it has been deemed necessary to describe them somewhat at length. lVe will now proceed to fully point out and describe the features and functions of the aforesaid let-off. A

As lalready noted, the warplet-oif consists of mechanism, subject to the action of the slay 28, designed to permit the warp-wires 57 to be drawn from the warp-beam 6 as they are required for weaving. Attention is called first to the fact that the warp-wires cany be drawn from thewarp-beam by the cloth roll 14, under the influence of the cloth-take-up not herein shown, only as fast as the worm 21 allows the worm-gear 20 to rotate with said warp-beam, so by bringing the peg-wheel 22, which is tight on the same shaft with said worm, under the control of the new mechanism we obtain the desired result. Said mechanism comprises an escapement bar 58 mounted to reciprocate in brackets 59-59 on the inside of the end of the frame 5 which supports the worm shaft 7, dogs 460 on the underside of such bar adapted to engage the peg-wheelr pegs 61, a drive bar 62 for said escapement bar reciprocated by an arm 63 tight on the heddle rock-shaft 12, and a lifter 64 for said drive bar pivoted at 65 to the frame and having its front terminal extending into the path of travel of a dog 66 on the bottom of the slay 28. The bar 58 is slotted at 67 for the shaft 7, and has a handle 68 on its front end to enable the same to be reciprocated by hand. At the back end of the bar 62 is a pin 69 adapted to enter an opening in the bar 58 and thus lock the two bars together. The forward terminal of the bar 62 is slidingly mounted in a sleeve 7 O at the rear end of the lifter 64, and a stop pin 71 projecting from the adjacent end of the frame beneath said lifter, back of and below the pivot 65, limits the downward movement of said sleeve and the supported bar. The drive bar operates in and through a guide 72 rising from the edges of the escapement bar, and the rear terminal of said drive bar is tensioned downward by a spring 73 bearing between the top of said guide and the top of the drive A slot 74 in the drive bar receives the upper terminal of the arm 63 and is long enough to allow said arm to rock with the shaft 12 as far as is necessary without imparting more movement to said bar than'is needed, that is to say, such slot provides for whatever lost vmotion may be required in order to enable the arm to rock farther than the bar needs to be driven; where no provision of this kind is called for the bar `can be pivoted to the arm. The bar 58 also is slotted below the slot 74 for the passageof the arm 63 and its free movement therein.

The bar 58 and the peg-wheel22 form an escapement for the warp-beam, one peg 61VV after another passing lirst one dog and then the other as said bar is reciprocated by the arm 63 through the medium ofthe drive bar 62 and its engaging in 69, and permitting the warp-wires 57 to be run off, but when the slay 28 swings forward far enough for the dog 66 to strike the adjacent end of the lifter 64 and rock said lifter sufficiently to cause the pin 69 to become disengaged from the escapement bar, by reason of the raising of said drive bar by the lifter, then such escapement no longeroperates and the warp-wires are held back, the drive bar meanwhile playingA freely through the sleeve as said bar is actuated by said arm. This automatic stopping of the warp-wires takes place only after they have been running ofi too fast or so fast that the beating up of the weft occurs far enough forward to enable the dog ,66 to encounter the lifter 64 during the forward sweep of the slay, a condition which may not exist but once perhaps while the shuttle is making six or eight shots. Of course the dog 66 never passes over the end of the lifter which extends into its path. The lifter is released as soon as the slay swings back, the drive bar drops into place once more, and the pin 69 quickly re'engages K the escapement bar, when the escapement again commences to operate and to permit the warp-wires to run off or to be drawn off of the warp-beam. The spring 73 is usually very light, being just strong enough to insure the rengagement of the drive bar with the escapement bar upon the release of the lifter in the manner above explained.

When it is desired to operate the escape ment by hand, it is simply necessary to throw out the drive bar, which might be done by depressing and tying down the lifter 64 forward of the pivot 65, and move the bar 58 by means of the handle 68.

The escapement let-off is illustrated in the drawings as being normally disposed and in readiness to permit the warp to be fed forward ateach motion of the rock-shaft 63.

It is plainly to be seen that variousA changes in the shape, size, arrangement, and construction of some or all of the parts which enter into our let-off mechanism may be made without departing from the nature of our invention. f

That we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in a loom, with the slay, the warp-beam, and an escapement for the latter, of means operative by said slay to throw said escapement out of action, such means comprising a tilting member adapted to be actuated by the slay, and a constantly reciprocating member controlled by said tilting member and by which the escapement is controlled.

2. The combination, in a loom, with the slay, the warp-beam, and an escapement for the latter, of means operative by said slay when in its occasional most advanced position to throw said escapement out of action, such means comprising a tilting member adapted to be actuated by the slay, and a constantly reciprocating member controlled by said tilting member and by which the escapement is controlled.

3. The combination, in a loom, with the slay, the warp-beam,` and an escapement for the latter comprising a peg-wheel and a reciprocating bar provided with dogs arranged to permit an intermittent motion to said peg-wheel, of a drive bar for such escapement bar and normally engaged therewith, an oscillating arm to reciprocate said drive bar, and means operative by said slay to disengage the said two bars.

i. The combination, in a loom, with the slay, the warp-beam, and an escapement for the latter comprising a peg-wheel and a reciprocating bar provided with dogs arranged to permit an intermittent motion to said peg-wheel, of a drive bar for such escapement bar and normally engaged therewith, an oscillating arm to reciprocate said drive bar, and means operative by said slay when in its occasional most advanced position to disengage the said two bars.

5. Warp let-off mechanism, for a loom, comprising a vertical shaft, a peg-wheel on said shaft, and an oscillating arm, of a reciprocating escapement bar recessed to clear said shaft and provided with dogs arranged to permit an intermittent motion to said peg-wheel, and means to actuate said bar from said arm, such means comprising a drive bar operatively connected with said escapement bar and with said arm.

G. The combination, in a loom, with the warp-beam, a peg-wheel adapted to control said warp-beam, a rock-shaft forming part of the heddle-frame-operating mechanism of the loom, and an oscillating arm on said rock-shaft, of a reciprocating escapement bar provided with dogs arranged to permit an intermittent motion to said peg-wheel, and means to actnate such bar from said arm.

7. The combination, in a loom, with the slay, the warp-beam, and an escapement for the latter comprising a peg-wheel and a reciprocating bar provided with dogs arranged to permit an intermittent motion to said pegwheel, of a drive bar for such escapement bar and normally engaged therewith, an oscillating arm to reciprocate said drive bar, and a pivotally-mounted lifter subject to the control of said slay and adapted, when operated by the slay, to disengage the drive bar from said escapement bar.

8. The combination, in a loom, with the slay, the warp-beam, and an escapement for the latter comprising a peg-wheel and a reciprocating bar provided with dogs arranged to permit an intermittent motion to said peg-wheel, of a drive bar for such escapement bar and normally engaged therewith, an oscillating arm to reciprocate said drive bar, and a pivotally-mounted lifter subject to the control of said slay and adapted, when operated by the slay, to disengage the drive bar from said escapement bar, said lifter having a sleeve through which the drive bar plays freely.

9. rfhe combination with the slay of a loom, of warp let-off mechanism comprising a constantly reciprocating drive' bar, an escapement bar normally engaged and driven by said drive bar, and means operative by said slay to break temporarily the opera-tive engagement between said bars.

10. Warp let-off mechanism, for a loom, comprising a constantly reciprocating drive bar, an escapement bar, engaging means between said bars to cause the escapement bar to be actuated by the drive bar, and automatic means to disconnect temporarily such bars from operative engagement.

11. The combination, in a warp let-off for looms, with an escapement bar, of a pivotally-mounted lifter, and a reciprocating drive bar adapted to be engaged with and disengaged from said escapement bar, and supported by said lifter both when in and out of engagement with the escapement bar.

12. The combination, in a warp let-oftl for looms, with an escapement bar provided with a guide, of a pivotally-mounted lifter, and a drive bar reciprocating through said guide and adapted to be engaged with and disengaged from said escapement bar, and supported by said lifter both when in and out of engagement with the escapement bar.

13. The combination, in a warp let-off for looms, with an escapement bar provided with a guide, of a pivotally-mounted lifter, a. drive bar reciprocating through said guides and adapted to be engaged with and disengaged from said escapement bar, and supported by said lifter both when in and out of engagement with the escapement bar, and a spring between the guide and the drive bar to tension the latter toward the escapement bar.

14. The combination, in a warp let-off for looms, of a peg-wheel, an escapement bar mounted to reciprocate and having dogs arranged to permit an intermittent motion to said peg-Wheel7 an actuatingl member for said escapement bar, and tilting means to disconnect said actuating member from the bar to enable the latter to be operated by hand.

l5. The combination, in a Warp let-olii for looms, with a peg-Wheel and an escapement bar mounted to reciprocate and having dogs arranged to permit an intermittent motion to said peg-Wheel, means to operate said bar by hand7 of a drive bar adapted to be reciprocated by power and to actuate the escapement bar, and automatic means to disconnect temporarily said drive bar from the escapement bar.

16. The combination, in a loom, With the Warp-beam of the loom, and the heddleframe-operating mechanism, of a constantly reciprocating drive bar operated by such mechanism, an escapement bar dependent for action on said drive bar, means to control said Warp-beam through the medium of said escapementbar, and means` of engagement and disengagement between said bars.

17. The combination, in a loom, With the Warp-beam of the loom7 andthe heddleframe-operating, mechanism, of a constantly reciprocating drive bar operated by such mechanism, an escapement bar dependent for action on said drive bar, means to control said Warp-beam through the medium ofV said escapement bar, means for causing said bars to benormally engaged, and means for disengaging said bars. f

FRED T. VVITHEE. v ROBERT WHITE. fit-messes as to Fred T. Witliee:

F. A. CUTTER, A. C. FAIRBANKS. Witnesses as to Robert l/Vhite:

J. H. SALTSMAN, WM. FRANKLIN. 

